When You Were Young
by FelinesAndPhoenixes
Summary: Songfic, movie based. Its about Christine, Erik and Raoul. Implied EC, blatant CR. Read and review.


Title: When You Were YoungAuthor: The Amazing ArianaSummary: Phantom of the Opera songfic to When You Were Young by The KillersDisclaimer: I don't own any of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom characters, or The Killers' lyrics.Author's Note: Review, even if you think it sucks.

With a soft sigh, Christine Daae stared at her reflection in the mirror. Raoul had said something about ordering his fine horses, and that they would go…somewhere. Not that she wanted to. The Angel of Music was too strict to allow such frivolity, and she couldn't afford to lose his tutelage. The only thing she wanted in all the world was to see her Angel of Music, to meet the inspiration of her music. The one who had given life to her song.

She wanted someone to save her. Christine was actually a terribly lonely person. She had been raised in the theatre, living with the other ballet girls her entire life, but still Meg Giry was the only person she would even consider a friend. She hadn't wanted to accept Raoul's dinner invitation. She was not that desperate for human contact, and honestly the thought of losing her mentor in favor of the pretty-boy fop was more than she could stand.

_You sit there in your heartache __Waiting__ on some beautiful boy to __save you from your old ways __You play forgiveness __Watch it now ... here he comes! _

She sat quietly, contemplating. What would life be like without her mentor? Or…what would life be like if she could actually meet her Angel of Music? Was he really her father, or an angel her father had sent to her? Or was he something more, something entirely different? As she thought quietly, she drifted into a sort of half-sleep, jolting back into awareness as the room around her suddenly went dark.

"Insolent boy, this slave of fashion, basking in your glory. Ignorant fool this brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!" the voice of her mentor sang out from nowhere.

"Angel, I hear you, speak I listen, stay by my side, guide me! Angel my soul was weak forgive me," Christine stood, looking around the room, wondering where the voice was coming from. "Enter at last, master…"

"Flattering child you shall know me, see why in shadows I hide, look at your face in the mirror, I am there inside."

_He doesn't look a thing like Jesus __But he talks like a gentleman __Like__ you imagined when you were young _

"Angel of music, guide and guardian, grant to me your glory, Angel of music hide no longer, come to me, strange angel…." She watched in a dazed sort of confusion as a face began to appear in her mirror. A handsome face, half hidden by a white mask. The face of a man, not an angel. He wasn't an angel then, she realized. But then, what was he?

"I am your angel of to the angel of music…I am your angel of music, come to the angel of music…."

Christine walked slowly towards the mirror, which was slowly opening towards her. A black-gloved hand was slowly stretched out toward her. She hesitatingly took the hand, seeing no real reason not to. He wasn't her angel, but he was the gentleman he had always seemed to be.

Outside the door, a voice sounded relentlessly, though she ignored it. "Christine, whose is that voice? Christine?!"_Can we climb this mountain __I don't know __Higher now than ever before __I know we can make it if we take it slow __Let's__ take it easy __Easy now, watch it go _

Erik sighed as he sat down at the organ, fingers flying quickly over the keys, creating an angry sounding crescendo. Perhaps showing her the mannequin of herself in the wedding dress had been a bit much. He glanced over his shoulder to where Christine slept behind the curtain. Everything seemed to be a bit too much for the girl.

He turned back to his music, staring intently at the score on the music stand. Perhaps it was possible that they would be ok if he could stop pushing things on her so quickly. If he could only give her time to adjust to his home, his shrine to the music that they both created. If he could be patient with her, perhaps she would learn to love him. He reminded himself that she was young, that she was naïve and innocent._We're burning down the highway skyline __On__ the back of a hurricane that started turning __When you were young __When you were young _

Christine had been swept up into a wave of insanity, it seemed. The Phantom, her angel, Erik…expected so much from her. A lifetime of music, commitment to him, never able to see Raoul again. She supposed that she loved them both in different ways, though Erik was not quite the gentleman that she'd thought he was. A murderer, it was assumed. The death of Joseph Buquet was blamed on the Phantom, the mysterious Opera Ghost who tormented Andre and Feirman.

Raoul wanted her to marry him. "Its an engagement, not a crime," he'd said when she'd tried so hard to hide it, the night of the gala. And little good that had done. Erik had discovered the ring, threatened Raoul, Piangi, anyone who was near.

She supposed that she was happy with Raoul. Or at least she could learn to be happy, if she could ever forget about Erik. Her angel of music, who she could not live without was forever lost to her if she joined Raoul's world of society and foppery.

_And sometimes you close your eyes __and see the place where you used to live __When__ you were young _

Even after the engagement, sometimes when she was alone at night she would close her eyes and think back on her life when she was a child, when she had first come to the Opera. Her father had promised to send her the Angel of Music to look after her and to help her with her music. At first she'd mistaken Erik for the Angel, though she'd come to find out that he was a murderer. And it had all been for her.

_They say the devil's water, it __ain't__ so sweet __You__ don't have to drink right now __But you can dip your feet __Every once in a little while _

Christine knew that it was wrong to love Erik because of who he was. And marrying Raoul would be the right choice. She was expected to love Raoul, her childhood friend, no matter how she really felt about him. And she did love Raoul, but she'd always thought of him as an older brother to her, and any feelings other than that she'd had for him were long forgotten. Erik, though he had murdered in her name, was a gentleman, a musician, misunderstood. It was wrong, but thinking of him every now and again would help her to survive, she supposed.

And then, he appeared on stage with her in the middle of Don Juan Triumphant. She'd known that she was part of a plot to capture him, and she'd gone along with it, thinking she was doing the right thing. Doubts lingered in the back of her mind, but Raoul had demanded that if she was going to perform that night, it was going to at least be useful in Erik's capture, and nothing could keep her off the stage.

And he'd sang the dramatic song of love with her, after assumedly killing Piangi to take his place. And just as she'd been about to kiss him, as per the script, something had told her to follow Raoul's judgment and she'd unmasked him in front of everyone. He'd grabbed her, and they'd fallen though the trap door._You sit there in your heartache __Waiting__ on some beautiful boy to __To save you from you__r old ways__You play forgiveness __Watch it now here he comes _

She didn't want Raoul to come to rescue her, though he had, armed with the warning to keep his hand at the level of his eyes. Granted Erik wasn't her Angel, but……

Raoul was trapped, and she had to make a decision. Stay with Erik, or Raoul would die. She knew that if she stayed, Raoul would never let it go, and that he would return. But she didn't want to be responsible for his death, either.

So, the easily persuaded young woman chose Raoul. Just as he was about to die, Erik let him go. "Take the boat, swear to me never to tell the secret you know of the Angel in Hell. Go now. Go now and leave me," Erik sang.

_He doesn't look a thing like Jesus __But he talks like a gentleman __Like you imagined when you were young __(He talks like a gentlemen, like you imagined when) __When you were young _"Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known? God give me courage to show you…you are not alone!" Christine sang dramatically, pulling Erik close and kissing him, clinging to him for a moment like she would die if she let go.

_I said he doesn't look a thing like Jesus __He doesn't look a thing like Jesus __But more than you'll ever know_

As Raoul led her away, Christine turned to look once more at her Angel. She'd thought she'd be happy with Raoul. But it took all of her strength not to go back.

End

Author's Note: Blah blah, I don't really like Christine. She should have chosen Erik. Raoul is all foppy. I know this may have seemed rushed, but I wanted to get the important bits of the movie into the fic. And I wanted it to end with her actually wanting Erik, but trying to protect him.


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